Page 2948 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 15 August 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The minister has spoken at length about increasing the number of rapids in order to increase overall patronage of the new network. While this is definitely a good thing and we all agree that we want to see more Canberrans using public transport, this should not be at the expense of those who currently rely on it.
What seems to be forgotten here is the inherently public nature of public transportation. Yes, we want to encourage more commuters to use public transport. But equally, if not more importantly, public transport needs to be available to our less advantaged members of the community, those who do not have access to a car and those who cannot or can no longer safely drive. By cutting suburban services and removing bus stops, the new network neglects our most vulnerable. The government would know this, of course, if they chose to listen to the past eight weeks of public outcry. But they have not listened for the past 17 years, so why would they start now?
The minister needs to stop taking Canberrans for granted. The people of Canberra are more than just a cash cow for rainbow roundabouts and ill-forsaken, over-budget infrastructure plans.
These people rely on you to provide services that make their lives easier and provide the means by which they can access the plethora of opportunities that our territory has to offer. Public transport is a means by which Canberrans can and do access these opportunities. We must listen to those who have elected us.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (12.17): This will be a brief speech. As people know, I am very much in favour of our bus network and a regular user of it. I would love to be able to talk at greater length, but I do not think I can.
I will not be supporting Miss Burch’s motion because it is not nearly as practically constructed as the amendment to be proposed by the minister. I cannot agree with her that the timetables all have to be out front. We have to do consultation while there are still decisions being made. If we make all the decisions and then do the consultation the community will rightly feel aggrieved that they have no say on what is going on. I think Minister Fitzharris’s amendment better identifies the real issues and commits to further consultation on them. It is not sensible or practical in my view to produce timetables that go with consultation about the bus route because at that point, if we are doing genuine consultation, the timetables would be close to completely meaningless.
We already have a commitment from the government in terms of minimum timings for the rapid routes so we have some idea of what the timetables must be. But our buses do not just run one route; a bus might do a 3 to Woden then a 23 down to Woden valley, a 26 to Weston and a 60 through Kambah. If there were a change in, say, the No 3 route, that would change not just the timetable for that route but potentially all the others. We would have people putting submissions in on the basis of timetables that have not been worked out yet.
This recent consultation has the problems every other public transport system has in balancing where it puts its resources. Everybody wants a bus stop next to them or very close to them. Everybody wants more frequent services. Everybody wants faster
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video